Newcomer / Intro How do I know if this system has been explored?

[VR GodrikUnderscore]

Obviously the one's that are labeled "First discoverd by..." or "First mapped by..." are not.

My confusion is between "Unexplored" and some systems already showing all planetary labels.

Sometimes I will jump into a system and even though it has already been discovered, all the planets are marked "unexplored". I am not sure why it sometimes it says unexplored and sometimes it has all the labels already.

Right now I am in a system that already has all the planetary labels but it does not say "unexplored".

What am I missing?

 

[Skürt Avil]

When you jump into a system and honk, if the system has been previously discovered the system bodies will appear in your system map, but they will appear as 'Undiscovered' because you haven't discovered them yet. Use the FSS to discover them to yourself.
If you jump into a system, honk, look at the system map and there are only stars visible even though the number shown when you honked was greater, that means you get first discovery.

 

[Sapyx]

I assume you are talking about inhabited systems - systems where there are space stations etc.

There are two types of inhabited system: Explored and Unexplored. You used to be able to tell the difference between them, because for Explored systems you could open up and view the system map, even if you'd never been there before. The difference, with a few exceptions either way, is population-based: systems with a population over 1 million are generally Explored.

Explored systems show all the data for all planets in the system, without needing to run the FSS or scan the nav beacon. "First Discovered" tags were and are unavailable, though "First Mapped" tags are available for everywhere except Sol, Achenar and Alioth.

In Unexplored systems, the planets show up on the system map as "Unexplored" and you need to "explore" them, by either running the FSS, scanning the nav beacon in the system, or flying up to within 32 Ls of the planet and letting the passive scan complete.

Note there is a difference between an "Unexplored" system and an undiscovered or truly unexplored (i.e. no-one has ever visited it) system; Unexplored systems show thier planets as "Unexplored", while an undiscovered system map shows no planets at all, only the stars; the planets don't appear to you until you, the First Discoverer, run the FSS, and they won't be visible to anyone else who visits that system until you sell the data and claim the FSS tags. But don't worry; if you're just a newcomer flying about in Human-inhabited space, you're not going to be finding any truly Unexplored systems. You need to go a couple thousand LYs from Earth before you're likely to find those.

 

[VR GodrikUnderscore]

Ok, that makes sense. I got it now.

Quick follow up question though - why would some of the planets in a system I presumably discovered already show that they have been mapped? I am pretty sure I have not surface scanned some of these yet but they show as 100% mapped. Just trying to figure out if the error is on my end, and I have already surface scanned them or not.

 

[AngryAntz]

Ok, that makes sense. I got it now.

Quick follow up question though - why would some of the planets in a system I presumably discovered already show that they have been mapped? I am pretty sure I have not surface scanned some of these yet but they show as 100% mapped. Just trying to figure out if the error is on my end, and I have already surface scanned them or not.

Some people only selectively scan a system (looking for earth-like worlds, the big payers or if they are close enough). That may be why some systems look to be half discovered

 

[Sapyx]

Where are you seeing that they are mapped? Do they say "You have mapped this planet" in the system map? Are they blue'n'blobby while flying around in Supercruise? You fire up the probe launcher and it says it's already at 100%?

There was a bug - not sure if it's been fully cleared up - where a planet's moons (or a co-orbiting binary planet) would appear blue'n'blobby as if it were already mapped, when it wasn't. Makes actually mapping those planets difficult, as you can't see where your probes are landing.

 

[VR GodrikUnderscore]

Where are you seeing that they are mapped? Do they say "You have mapped this planet" in the system map? Are they blue'n'blobby while flying around in Supercruise? You fire up the probe launcher and it says it's already at 100%?

There was a bug - not sure if it's been fully cleared up - where a planet's moons (or a co-orbiting binary planet) would appear blue'n'blobby as if it were already mapped, when it wasn't. Makes actually mapping those planets difficult, as you can't see where your probes are landing.

Both in the navigation panel when having a planet selected, it says "Mapped - Yes". And also when I approach a planet and go into the surface scanner the planet is already gridded in blue (what you call blue and blobby) and at the bottom left it says "100%".

I suppose a bug makes more sense than having random low value planets already mapped by someone when the system has not been previously discovered yet.

 

[Chris Simon]

Where are you seeing that they are mapped? Do they say "You have mapped this planet" in the system map? Are they blue'n'blobby while flying around in Supercruise? You fire up the probe launcher and it says it's already at 100%?

There was a bug - not sure if it's been fully cleared up - where a planet's moons (or a co-orbiting binary planet) would appear blue'n'blobby as if it were already mapped, when it wasn't. Makes actually mapping those planets difficult, as you can't see where your probes are landing.

Yes, this bug is still alive and well.